Lessons Learned While Parenting in my 20s

5 Lessons I’ve learned in my first year of motherhood:1. Trust in God: From the day I discovered that I was pregnant, I knew that the journey of motherhood would be one that would bring me closer to God. The act of handing over my fears to Him day by day throughout my pregnancy, and after […]

Hope, Even for Yourself

Middle school is a weird time. Your body is growing faster than your brain can keep up, you’ve got hormones pumping through you, you’re racked with self-doubt, and, to be honest, you probably aren’t very good at much of anything yet. You don’t know if you’ll be a jock or a geek when you get […]

Thanks, Even for the Hard Things

On my way downstairs for my traditional day-after-Thanksgiving breakfast of pumpkin pie and coffee, I checked my phone and found this quote (from Jesus Calling) and some encouragement from the book of Psalms: “‘Thankfulness takes the sting out of adversity. That’s why I have instructed you to give thanks for everything. There is an element of […]

Walking with Jesus—It’s Not Glamping

Unlike some, I didn’t grow up backpacking. I had camped (glamped) with family on several occasions, but carrying a pack or setting up a tent more than 30 yards from a car was foreign to me. I’ve learned much about backcountry travel since then, and it’s helped me draw some parallels to the criticality of […]

Allowing God’s Timing to Heal My ACL Injury

It’s been 214 days since I fell skiing and tore my ACL. Since then, the seasons have changed, I underwent surgery, depended on crutches for two months, and had over 78 insurance claims processed for my injury. I have never had something like this happen to me. I have skied my entire life and started […]

Bible Apps and David’s Bad Day at Work

Yesterday was a bad day at work. Right at the end, I was pulled off a project I had poured myself into. I’m talking late nights, long days, difficult conversations. I thought our team was over the hump, but then our multi-billion-dollar client (not a typo) wrote back asking for changes. Two days later, in […]

Scrolling with Purpose: How to be mindful on social media

Social media can feel like the devil’s playground–but with cute filters and lots of photos. Don’t get me wrong, I love scrolling through Instagram and seeing what my friends are up to, but let’s be real–those pretty pictures can have ugly results. At least for me, social media can breed comparison, envy, and negativity.  But […]

Mental health and discipleship

Alice Matagora is a licensed marriage and family therapist, currently living and working in Southern California. She recently shared the story of her own mental health journey and talked about the role of discipleship and the role counseling. (Spoiler, she—like many people—needed both kinds of help.) Here is a transcript of the podcast, edited for clarity […]

Tiredness, Mistakes, and Joy

For at least the fifth day in a row, I blew it. This morning, I got the times mixed up for a meeting I was in charge of! Once again, I had to send the apologetic email, take responsibility for the confusion, and redirect folks to the right time and location. On one hand, I […]

Breaking the Cycle of Shame

I’ve spent far too much time asking myself two questions: What is wrong with me? and Why can’t I get it together? These aren’t kind questions. They are condemning. They’re laced with a nasty idea: shame. Up until a few years ago, I wouldn’t have known to call it that. But then a friend gently […]